Hunted by Magic (16 page)

W
ith Iannis’s
mind made up, we packed up and headed for the Resistance camp. Fenris and I changed into beast form, and with the aid of Iannis’s spell Annia was able to keep pace with us as we ran. The moon was nearly full now, and gave enough light for us to pick our way through the forest.

I wondered again just how it was that Iannis was able to keep up with us so easily. I hadn’t seen him use the energizing spell on himself, and since expending any magic drained the body’s energy, such a spell would only cancel itself out. I resolved to ask him about it later, when we weren’t in the middle of a rescue mission, and also to fill him in on the problems back in Solantha.

Even at a steady run, it took us several hours to reach the abandoned mining town. By that time, dawn’s fingers were painting the peaks of the mountains pink and gold. The camp was still covered in darkness, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before the light washed over the tops of the rickety old cabins and the soldiers began stirring.

“I bet the cook is pissed that he’s stuck back in the kitchen again,” Annia muttered, and I snickered mentally.

“Stop.” Iannis held up a hand, and we came to a halt. Standing between Iannis and Annia, I peered through the trees and tried to see what had caught Iannis’s attention, but there was only the dark, barely visible outline of the crumbling buildings.

“What is it?”
I asked Iannis.

“Someone has set up wards around the camp.” His low voice simmered with anger. “It must be that renegade mage you and Fenris mentioned earlier.”

“Shit.”
I squinted through the tree line again, trying to see whatever Iannis was looking at, but I couldn’t.
“How the hell do you know there are wards out there?”

“With enough practice you can train yourself to see the residue from active spells,”
Fenris explained.
“It takes years to master though, so in the meantime you’ll have to trust us. I can see it too.”

“I don’t see how the wards matter right now,” Annia said. “We’re heading for the mineshaft, not the camp. As long as there aren’t any wards outside the mine it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“True, but it’s very likely the mage has warded the mineshaft as well,” Iannis said tightly. “It’s what I would do in his place. No matter though; I don’t intend to walk away without confronting the traitor. Any mage foolish enough to side with the Resistance must answer to the Federation for his crimes.”

“That sounds a little hypocritical, considering that you saved Fenris from execution for defying the Federation,”
I couldn’t help pointing out. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the Resistance, I did think that the current establishment needed to change. I liked the idea that maybe, just maybe, there was a mage out there who agreed and had the balls to join the fight for equality.

“Now is
not
the time to debate politics,”
Iannis growled, and the hairs on my spine rose in challenge.

“Maybe, but could you at least hold off on erasing the mage from existence until we find out a little more about him?”
I snapped back.
Part of me couldn’t believe I was saying this, but I’d come a long way from my black and white viewpoint about mages ever since I was forced to stay at Solantha Palace.
“If we could turn him back onto our side, he could help us bring the Benefactor down.”

There was a long pause.
“I will consider your suggestion. In the meantime, lead the way to the mineshaft.”

Who knew I could actually be the voice of reason?
I thought as I changed back into human form. Once the glow had faded from my eyes, I swept my gaze across the horizon again…and in the growing daylight, spotted something I hadn’t seen before.

“Guys,” I muttered. “Any of you see that airship over there?”

Everyone turned their heads in the direction I was pointing. Settled about fifty yards from the camp was a small airship, with a wooden cabin attached under a faded canvas cylinder. It was half the size of those owned by the Mages Guild.

“I’m pretty sure that’s how the camp receives their supplies. It could fit all four of us,” Annia said, excitement in her voice. “Maybe we don’t have to walk all the way back to Solantha after all!”

“You’re forgetting about the delegates,” Fenris said dryly. “Not to mention that Iannis needs to get to the Convention as soon as possible to thwart whatever the Benefactor is up to there. If we commandeer that dirigible, we’ll be heading away from Solantha, not toward it.”

“Okay, but we
are
agreeing that we’re going to commandeer it, right?” Annia demanded. “The Chief Mage can send back a larger aircraft to pick up whoever is left behind, and any prisoners we take.”

“Indeed.” Iannis’s eyes were focused on the dirigible. “Miss Melcott, I suggest that you stay close to the dirigible to make sure that no one takes off in it, while Miss Baine, Fenris, and I rescue the delegates.”

With that settled, we split up, Annia sneaking toward the dirigible while I led the way to the mines. The sun was creeping closer to the horizon now, bathing the dark, rocky mountain face with a muted glow, and we moved a little faster, not wanting to be caught in the sunlight where sentries might see us.

To our surprise, there were no wards set up around the entrance to the mineshaft, and nor was there a guard on duty. Were we too late? No – a grumpy-looking mule was harnessed to the pulley mechanism that operated the cage, and I could hear voices coming from below.

“Hang on,” I said, lying flat on my belly at the edge of the shaft and tilting my ear toward the opening. “Let me see if I can hear what’s going on before we go down there.”

Fenris copied my pose while Iannis stood guard over us, and together we tuned in to listen to the furious argument occurring down in the mineshaft.

“You can’t do this, Chartis!” Bosal, the delegate I’d spoken to earlier, shouted. I froze, straining to make sure I’d heard him right – his voice was thick and hoarse from the drugs in his system. “You’re one of us! How could you side with these filthy mongrels and use your magic for their gain?”

“I
was
one of you,” a cold voice answered, and a shiver crawled up my spine as I recognized Argon Chartis’s superior tone. “But that was before Lord Iannis stripped me of my title and tossed me out into the cold, without so much as a recommendation. You did not lift a finger to help me then, Bosal.”

“And so what, that justifies your becoming the tool of these barbaric humans instead?” the Secretary demanded. “I didn’t realize you’d sunk so low, Argon. That
any
mage could sink so low.”

“Silence!” There was a crack, and I imagined the delegate slumping against the wall beneath the force of one of Chartis’s air-slaps. My cheek throbbed in sympathy – I’d been on the receiving end of a few of those from him myself. “The Resistance has offered me the means for getting my own back! Did all of you really expect me to just slink away after such injustice, like a chastised cur? A mage of my experience and standing?”

“Iannis!” I hissed, jumping to my feet. “It’s Argon Chartis!
He’s
the mage the Resistance recruited to help them, and he’s about to execute the delegates now!”

Iannis swore, then sprinted for the mineshaft, speaking the Words of the levitation spell as he went. Rather than fumbling with the spell myself, which I still wasn’t super confident with, I hopped onto Iannis’s back as he dropped down into the mineshaft.

“Ciach,”
he swore as my arms and legs wrapped around his torso, but one of his hands wrapped around mine and squeezed, as if to reassure I was safe. “Are you trying to get us both killed?”

“I was going for efficiency,” I muttered in his ear as we descended into the shaft, far faster and smoother than when I’d done it on my own. As the elevator cage came into view, I realized Iannis wasn’t going to be able to squeeze by it with me on his back, so I dropped onto the top of the cage, then waited until Fenris floated past him before I swung myself over the side and dropped down into the tunnel.

Chartis swung around, his eyes wide with shock at the sight of us. Power crackled in his left hand, which was aimed at the delegate he’d been arguing with. All seven prisoners had been lined up against the wall, rune-engraved cuffs weighing down their wrists and preventing them from being able to use their magic. Four Resistance soldiers surrounded them in case one of them decided to attack, but it was hardly necessary – the mages could barely stand.

“You!” Chartis shouted, jabbing a crackling finger in Iannis’s direction. Strangely, he almost looked triumphant at seeing the Chief Mage alive. “I
knew
you had somehow survived that fall.”

“Well, I am a Chief Mage,” Iannis said coldly, stepping forward. “It would be rather pitiful if I could be killed so easily. Step away from the delegates, Argon. I made the mistake of letting you go quietly, and I won’t be doing that again. You are coming back with me to face trial for your treason.”

“Come with you? Not in this life!” Chartis yelled, his eyes sparking with rage. He shouted a Word, and a bolt of lightning shot from his palm, heading straight for Iannis. Iannis raised a hand and shouted another spell as he caught the bolt in his hand. The deadly lightning dissipated, much to Chartis’s fury. “You’ve already stripped me of my rank and thrown me out of the Guild – I won’t allow you to humiliate me by putting me on a public trial as well!”

“Stop this!” Iannis commanded, his eyes flashing. “If you throw around magic like that in this tunnel, it will collapse and kill us all!”

“That doesn’t sound so bad to me,” Chartis sneered, raising his hand again. “It means I won’t have to take the time to kill you all individually.” He shot another bolt at Iannis, and as he did the soldiers rushed forward to attack me and Fenris.

“Help the delegates!” I shouted at Fenris as I charged forward to meet them. “I’ll hold them off while you get them out of here!”

The next few minutes were utter pandemonium. Drawing my crescent knives, I blocked the first soldier’s sword and knocked it away, then came in with a slash at his mid-section. A second soldier went for my ribs as I did so, and I was forced to twist away to avoid the bite of his blade. As a result, my slash didn’t go as deep as I would have liked, and the first soldier jumped back, barely scathed. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Fenris duck out of the way of another soldier’s blade, then come in from underneath and slam his palms into the guy’s chest while shouting a word. Ice spread like wildfire over the man’s body, and the fourth soldier froze as he watched his comrade turn into a sculpture.

Inspired, I conjured a ball of fire in each hand, then tossed them both at the soldiers as they tried to rush me. The first one ducked it, but the second one didn’t get out of the way in time, and he screamed as his clothing burst into flame, then dropped onto the ground and started rolling to stamp out the flames.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Argon and Iannis continue to fight. Iannis was on the defensive, working as hard as he could to try and absorb Argon’s blasts so that they didn’t hurt anyone or destabilize the tunnel. Unable to use full force against a well-shielded enemy, he was at a major disadvantage. If I didn’t do something soon, Iannis was going to get hurt.

The hiss of a blade swinging through the air drew my attention to an attack from one of the remaining soldiers. I swung my crescent knife out to block the arc of his sword, but I didn’t quite catch it at the right angle and his blade bit deeply into my fingers, straight into the bone. I cried out, my knife slipping from my mutilated fingers, and jumped back, out of the soldier’s reach. He laughed at my pain, and the fear in my gut morphed into a towering flame of rage. Snarling, I lifted my other hand, then blasted him straight in the chest with a gout of flame. He flew backwards, landing hard on his ass, a scream erupting from his lips as the flames raced across his body, but I didn’t wait around to see if he was going to do the stop, drop, and roll like his buddy. Instead, I drew a chakram from the pouch on my hip, then flung it at Chartis using my non-dominant hand. Too busy trying to blast Iannis and simultaneously shield against his attacks, Chartis didn’t see the blade coming, and it sliced clean through his left leg. His scream echoed off the rocky walls, and blood spurted from the stump of his leg as he dropped onto his uninjured knee.

“You mangy beast!” he shouted, dark green eyes blazing with hatred as his gaze clashed with mine. He lifted a hand to blast me, but before he could, Iannis took advantage of Chartis’s lowered shield and blasted him with a bolt of his own. Argon screamed as the electric shock ran through him, and he toppled to the ground. I watched him shake and tremble for several moments before he braced his hand against the wall and tried to rise.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Iannis said coldly. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re surrounded and outnumbered.”

It was true. Fenris had freed the delegates from their bonds, and they were on their feet now. Even though they looked like they could be knocked over by a stiff wind, they came to stand around the former Director of the Mages Guild, their lips tight and their eyes filled with the need for retribution. Fenris had his arm at the elbow of the oldest delegate, holding him steady, but I had no doubt that if Chartis tried anything, Fenris would kill him.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to happen,” Chartis cried in a trembling voice as his body collapsed against the dirt. Rivulets of blood seeped into the ground beneath him, and his face was growing paler by the second. “I should have been the next Chief Mage, not you! I was next in line for the position!”

“Had you been more interested in serving the people rather than serving yourself, perhaps you might have gotten the position,” Iannis said. There wasn’t an ounce of compassion in his stony voice. “Instead, you abused the position that you did have, and rather than trying to work your way back into the good graces of the Guild after I rightfully dismissed you, you’ve turned traitor.” His eyes lifted to Fenris. “Bring me a set of those cuffs so I can bind him and cauterize his wound.”